Growth
Challenges of Success
If your business is in this stage, you have undoubtedly experienced success. You successfully navigated the startup phase and are now seeing cash flow improved and stabilize. Your new challenge is as the owner of a growing business is one of time. New demands become apparent at this stage. Managing increasing revenue, expanding your staff, attending to an increasing number of customers, and responding to your competition are among the most common challenges business owners cite when reaching out to us. Our Business Boost Program was designed to help business navigate the growth stage with a focus on maximizing sustainability.
The Interview
Our first step is to sit down with you and get a detailed explanation of your business. What is your vision? What is your mission? What are your goals? What are your objectives? Answers to these questions provide the insight needed to identify the areas of you business that will require specific attention.
The Plan
Much as you devised a plan on going from an idea to a startup, you will also need a plan on moving to the next level. Every business should have a business plan that projects at least five years into the future. This not only provides a road map for the business but also serves as a reminder of the purpose for which the business was founded. This does not make the business plan static. It is a living document that should be revisited at least once a year and amended as conditions change. Crestfinity combines a review of the business plan with the responses from the Interview to help business owners develop a modified plan that accounts for their new reality.
The People
The most important part of any business are the people who make up its staff. Do you have enough people on staff? Do you have your people in the proper positions? Does your staff understand the culture of the company? Do they support its mission / vision? Are the willing to help the business grow? The type of person needed for a startup company may not be the same for a company in its growth stage. This doesn't mean the owner must replace the staff. The best course of action may be offering expanded training to the current staff or adding a specialist to the team with a different skillset and perspective. Equitably assessing your people and investing in them will enable the business owner to delegate duties with confidence. It is much easier to trust your process when you trust your people.
The Performance
Progress must be judged by predetermined performance measurements. Setting these before implementing the growth plan is important. Doing so allows for an objective determination of the success of implemented programs. Sales, customer feedback, customer loyalty, employee feedback are examples of key indicators often used. Reviewing these indicators early and often allows for strategy modification in real-time.